Liu Mingyuan was a prominent Chinese musician, composer, and teacher. He played the Chinese bowed string instruments banhu

Banhu

The banhu is a Chinese traditional bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It is used primarily in northern China. Ban means a piece of wood and hu is short for huqin....

, zhonghu

Zhonghu

The zhonghu is a low-pitched Chinese bowed string instrument. Together with the erhu and gaohu, it is a member of the huqin family, and was developed in the 20th century as the alto member of the huqin family .The zhonghu is analogous with the erhu, but is slightly larger and...

, gaohu

Gaohu

The gaohu is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed from the erhu in the 1920s by the musician and composer Lü Wencheng and used in Cantonese music and Cantonese opera...

, erhu

Erhu

The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...

, jinghu

Jinghu

The jinghu is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family, used primarily in Beijing opera. It is the smallest and highest pitched instrument in the huqin family.-Construction:...

, and zhuihu

Zhuihu

The zhuihu is a two-stringed bowed string instrument from China. In construction, it resembles the sanxian, and likely evolved as a bowed version of that musical instrument...

, among others, as well as the piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

.

Biography

Born in Tianjin

Tianjin

' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

, Mingyuan began studying music from his father and eventually learned to play a wide variety of traditional genres including pingju, Cantonese music

Guangdong music (genre)

Guangdong music, also known as Cantonese music is a style of traditional Chinese instrumental music from Guangzhou and surrounding areas in Pearl River Delta of Guangdong Province on the southern coast of China. The name of the music is not an accurate description because Guangdong music is not...

, and Beijing opera

Beijing opera

Peking opera or Beijing opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in the late 18th century and became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty court...

.

He composed and arranged several popular guoyue

Guoyue

Guoyue is a modernized form of Chinese traditional music written or adapted for some form of grand presentation, usually through a large orchestra of Chinese instruments. It was created in mainland China beginning in the early 20th century and is frequently broadcast on radio and television in the...

pieces, many of which are based on traditional Chinese melodies. Among his best known compositions are Xi Yang Yang (喜洋洋), Happy Year (幸福年), and Ten Elder Sisters (十大姐). Among his solos for the erhu are Henan Tune (河南小曲).

Along with Liu Tianhua and Abing

Abing

"Blind" Ābǐng was a blind Chinese musician specializing in the erhu and pipa.-Life:...

, Liu is considered one of China's three finest traditional instrumentalists of the 20th century.http://baike.baidu.com/view/116943.htm?func=retitle

External links

• Liu Mingyuan page
• Liu Mingyuan page (Chinese)